Share this post

Link to post

Share on other sites

I loaded up your MAXX_METAR.rwx file in XP11, and it worked here. So at least whatever is going on isn't something systemic:

A couple of ideas:

It looks like you have one sim set to "Solid Stratiform" and the other set to "HD Cloud Puffs". If you set XP11 to "HD Cloud Puffs", does it look as you'd expect?

Your log looks like you were switching RWC on and off, or turning real world weather on or off, during your flight. If you have "never change visible weather" on in your RWC settings, perhaps some weather state from your manual weather settings was kept in place as a result? Disabling "never change visible weather" would be something to try if this happens again.

Share this post

Link to post

Share on other sites

I tried your suggestions and it didn't work, I then downgraded to SMP 3.3.2 and it still doesn't work; I was wandering if it could have something to do with this Radeon graphics, although it is the same for XP10.

Share this post

Link to post

Share on other sites

Don't think so. What if you disable RWC and set up cloudy conditions manually? Still nothing?

If so, then perhaps it is some system-specific issue - or it could be a license issue. SMP won't render cumulus or overcast clouds if the license check fails. Although there's no indication of that in your log that you sent.

Share this post

Link to post

Share on other sites

Tried that and there is some difference but it is featureless, like a cloud layer appears just as fog. Furthermore, as I was increasing the camera altitude, x-plane crashed, reportedly due to Silver Lining.

Share this post

Link to post

Share on other sites

I'm not running out of memory, how could I if there's no scenery? We've discussed this before and my conclusion was that the available memory reported by SMP on a Mac is nothing like the real available memory (I know you disagree). Anyway, if I switch to XP10, with loads of scenery an plugins, everything runs smotthly with very acceptable FPS. Also, if you look at my first picture you'l notice that XP11 was running at 20 FPS, which confirms that there is no lack of memory.

Is it possible that in a reinstal something is used from a previous version or is everything erased? I could try to erase everything manaully and do a fresh instal, instead of the reinstal. I'm not sure if that counts against my activation slots, which are probably running very low.

Share this post

Link to post

Share on other sites

A fresh install couldn't hurt. My understanding is that activation slots are only tied to individual PC's; you shouldn't run out by re-installing on the same system.

If you're low on memory, I would expect things to run fine until you actually ran out. Again there may be things running in the background on your system that is consuming it all. I do agree that the way MacOS reports VRAM usage is complex, but it's reporting low system RAM in your case.

Share this post

Link to post

Share on other sites

I was going to abandon this subject but Then I had an idea to try and increase the visual effects; it was set to medium and I managed to get clouds by increasing to high. This is an unexpected limitation, but there you are.

Share this post

Link to post

Share on other sites

Hi sgabriel, I had a 10 year old MacBook Pro do something like this. In my case just the normal desktop looked all patchy, similar to your screenshot. My GPU had some pins desolder themselves. Everything on my screen was messed up. The thing that's very odd, if anyone suspects a graphic chip going bad, wouldn't the cockpit view also look the same? i.e. the instrument panel should look all patchy as well. Do you ever have this patchy look with any other applications? My 2 cents.

Share this post

Link to post

Share on other sites

Yes, I know what you're talking about. My computer (which is brand new as of three days ago), however, behaves fine in all other situations, running X-Plane 11 or not. Only when SMP4 is active does it occur. Furthermore, it occurs only outside the aircraft! That is to say: when viewed from the cockpit the cockpit textures are normal; only the "world" outside displays the effect pictured. It goes away when I deactivate the SMP4 plugin; it returns when I re-activate it.

Puzzling.

Share this post

Link to post

Share on other sites

It may be some object specific to that view is triggering the fault. Every time we've seen this sort of thing, it's turned out to be a hardware failure. Apple has quietly recalled some GPU models that are prone to this; you may want to do a Google search for your video card model and the word "recall" to see if it's on the list. (If you don't know your video card model, it will be listed near the top of X-Plane's log.txt file.)

Share this post

Link to post

Share on other sites

I'm sad—or happy—to say that doesn't seem to be it. It's a brand new computer with a current-production video card (AMD Radeon R9 M380, 2GB). Not a monster card, but runs XP-11 marvellously...except for this issue with SMP4. Weird.

Share this post

Link to post

Share on other sites

That is strange; we tested with HDR both on and off in XP11. I'll double check though; perhaps something changed in pb3 or something.

I'm having the same problem as reported above with XP11 and the SMP4.1 (just installed today) where I only get clouds if the "Visual Effects" settings in XP11 is set to High. Is this a known limitation of SMP4 or something with my install/settings?

Running on a MacPro with 64GB ram, AMD FirePro D500 3GB

Thanks, MontanaAP

Share this post

Link to post

Share on other sites

No, it's not a known issue - clouds appear just fine at lower visual effects settings here. It might help if you post your log.txt after experiencing the problem; it may help us figure out what's happening with your system.

X-Plane re-loads everything when you change the visual effects setting, so it's possible new, clear weather conditions got loaded at the same time due to a METAR update.